Mailbag: Mercedes driver may act again

April 14, 2011

This is in response to a letter to the editor written by a Manfred E. Wolff (Mailbag: Skateboarding debate goes downhill, April 7), who responded to my letter, ("Sounding Off: Driver makes a bad move, March 31) in the Coastline Pilot.

A police report was made the Friday after the incident. Go to the Police Department and ask to speak to someone regarding it. The reason it was not reported on the night of the incident is because the two seventh-graders mistakenly thought that because they did not get the plate number, what was there to report?

They were made to understand that for the safety of other kids in the community, a record of the incident had to be filed. Whoever the horrendous person was who committed the crime will no doubt try it again!

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My assertion that perhaps this aggressive and violent person may be a member of Speedboarders Neighborhood Action Group, or SNAG, was a guess. We don't know because the coward drove off without checking to see if the minor he or she hit was injured and to what degree.

Considering that SNAG has vilified and condemned the skateboarder kids for many months now, it wasn't a big leap on my part to assume that the person behind the wheel that night was perhaps a member, "perhaps" being the operative word.

If the driver is not, the driver clearly subscribes to the same don't-share-the-road mentality of SNAG members, which is a darn shame. This mentality gave the driver a sense of entitlement; he or she felt it was OK to assert power with an automobile over two seventh-graders.

I find it most interesting that your focus of my letter to the editor was not on the atrocity of the action of this driver, but instead the mention of SNAG. I see you have your priorities in check!

Kimberly O'Brien-Young

Laguna Beach

Clean up Broadway and Coast Highway

On Dec. 22 Laguna Beach suffered a terrible flood that devastated residents and downtown business owners. But here we are in early April, going on four months later, and the intersection of Broadway and Coast Highway still looms with caution tape and barriers.

Part of the boardwalk remains closed, there is still lots of debris beyond the roped-off area, along with grass and wildflowers starting to bloom. Really? Wildflowers?

When is this mess going to be cleaned up, and the boardwalk repaired, so we can make Laguna beautiful again?